Oskaloosa, IA Ballooning Accident, May 1887

AN AMATEUR AERONAUT FALLS FROM A BURNING BALLOON AND IS DASHED TO DEATH.

WILLIAM ANDREAS, an amateur balloonist, was killed at Oskaloosa, Iowa. He had a hot-air balloon, about twenty by forty feet. When loosened it shot up with great rapidity about seven hundred feet, when a current carried the balloon a distance of three blocks when it took fire.
ANDREAS was on a trapeze ten feet below the balloon, and was seen to climb nearly to the mouth, as was supposed to attempt to put out the fire. Very soon, however, the balloon collapsed, and the doomed man fell upon the roof of a business block near the public square. The body was crushed beyond recognition. The ascent had been largely advertised, and the streets were filled by thousands of people, mostly women and children.
The sight was a horrible one, and occasioned intense excitement. Some ladies fainted, and many others had to be carried home.